


The Saloon

by Enina



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Barry is a teenager, Barry notices, Barry's schoolmates are assholes, Humor, Len looks hot, M/M, Underage Drinking, Unexpected Meeting, starting romantic feelings, the future Rogues are not, this takes place in the past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-28 11:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5088614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enina/pseuds/Enina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry is abandoned in a shady bar somewhere in the Keys after he and Iris went out to celebrate their graduation from high school with some of her friends.</p><p>He makes some unusual acquaintances while being there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Saloon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ladyofpride](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofpride/gifts).
  * Translation into Русский available: [«Салун»](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8976493) by [vera_nic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vera_nic/pseuds/vera_nic)



> Okay, this has been laying around on my disk for a while now, I wrote is about a month ago but didn't finish it till this morning. It's interesting how these things work at times, I wrote the main part in one sitting, but the last page just needed some extra time to come to me. ;)
> 
> I gift this story to the very talented ladyofpride. I hope you're doing better, hun! \\(^.^)/
> 
> It's not edited!
> 
> Please enjoy!

* * *

Even after having finally survived High School and all the experience he collected during his time in that rotten place, Barry still has difficulties to believe that this is really happening to him right now. It isn’t even as if this wasn’t exactly what he has feared would happen because... it is.

He should have stayed at home…

He is such an idiot!

Why can he never say no when it comes to Iris?!

At first, she convinced him to join her to this stupid graduation party that is thrown by people he's been the natural prey for on the school grounds for years – and, of course, where he still stuck out like a _sore thumb_  because it was painfully obvious that he didn’t belong to the rest of the _cool kids_  – and then he was even dumb enough to agree and follow along when a couple of her friends suggested to visit some damn bar in the Keys!

Because Iris, mulishly stubborn as she is, which gets even _worse_ when she is tipsy, would have gone anyway, and he has heard too many story of how badly these kind of things can turn out as to risk that anything like that could happen to her.

This leads to his current predicament as he has been abandoned in this stupid bar where Andrew, one of Iris’ friends, took them and three other guys to. This has been nearly two hours ago.

A rundown shady place called _the Saloon_ , somewhere deep inside the Keys.

In Keystone.

On the other side of the river.

Joe is going to _kill_ him…

Well, should the other customers of this shady place not do so first seeing that about 99% of those seem to be made up of thugs who look like they could eat someone like him for breakfast.

… damn his luck.

He keeps his eyes firmly on his bottle of beer in front of him that has gone warm by now, while he listens to cacophony of people around him and wonders how he could explain to the barman, a huge beefy black guy with a permanent scowl, that he doesn’t have any money on him to pay for his beer.

He really hopes that the other guys paid for their stuff, at least, but is pretty sure that it isn’t the case because he knows that those jackasses would find it hilarious to get him in even more trouble than he is already in.

Iris got a call from a one of her friends to join them somewhere not even forty minutes after getting here. Said friend informed her about another party where they could get free booze, and while Barry made a quick trip to the bar’s seriously _disgusting_ looking restroom as he had quite a bit to drink by then – even though most of it was Coke – they seemed to decide to make a trip there.

 _Without_ him.

Which happened about _an hour ago_.

…

Barry bites down on a frustrated grown and quickly schools his features in what he hopes is cool nonchalance when he notices the bartenders suspicious look. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and looks whether Iris has finally replied to one of his five messages.

Which she hasn’t.

It would be his luck that her phone is dead by now, she can be so careless at times when it comes to recharging it regularly as she usually would just use his instead in case her own one runs out of energy…

God, he really hopes she is alright. She has been pretty drunk already, and he would never forgive himself should something happen to her.

Neither would Joe…

He should call him, but then Iris would also get in so much trouble.

Though, getting grounded for the next decade is still better than getting raped or ending up dead or _both_ …

Just as he is about to call up his contact menu, the familiar sound of an incoming message pipes up, catching him off-guard before flooding him with a sense of relief.

Finally!

He opens the text and-

‘ _Hey, Barry, this is Tina! ;) Don’t worry about_

_Iry, our baby had one too many, and she’s_

_currently sleeping the sleep of the just in_

_Mike’s guest room. I’ll make sure that her honour_

_stays intact but please make some excuse up_

_if her dad calls you!_

_Thanks! :*_ ’

Barry frowns down at the phone, not sure how to feel about this.

It doesn’t improve his own situation whatsoever, but he is pretty certain that this message was written by Tina Lewis which means that the Mike she mentioned has to be Michael Lewis, her brother, and seeing that Tina and Iris are pretty good friends he probably wouldn’t have to worry about her too much.

How the heck did she get to Mike Lewis’ place, though? Is there where the party takes place they were talking about before?

Doesn’t really matter now, though, does it?

He is still _stuck_ here without money, and the barman keeps shooting him dark looks, like he knows that he wouldn’t be able to pay and just tries to put off the inevitable.

He really should have stayed at home…

_‘Okay, and thanks for keeping an eye_

_on her!’_

Barry writes back and really means it. He considers writing another one then and ask Tina if she knew someone who could come and pick him up from here because he doesn’t only have no cash because he seemed to have lost his wallet somewhere – which makes this whole nightmare of a night just so much _better_ – but also had not the slightest idea where he actually is.

He gives it a shot, not promising himself anything from it, seeing that Tina is likely not carrying Iris’ phone around with her and, as expected, he doesn’t get any answer.

Perfect.

Maybe _he_ is the one who would end up dead before the end of the night…

Barry pushes that uncomfortable thought away and glances back to the barman who is meeting his gaze with a frown. It nearly startles him badly enough that he jumps, and he quickly turns back to his beer bottle that is still three quarter full.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he can see the beefy guy make his way over to him now, and he feels his stomach drop-

The entrance to the bar is opened, and a group of four people come in, calling the barman’s attention away from him which in turn causes Barry to glance over to the newcomers as well.

Three guys, all probably in their mid-twenties going toward their thirties, and a young woman, who seems just a few years older than he himself is, make their way over to the bar, obviously intending to take the seats next to him. They don’t exactly scream _criminals_ other than for the tall bald guy who is looking like someone for whom Barry would consider to change the street side if he was to meet him alone at night. Thankfully, the intimidating stranger takes the place farthest from him.

Though, even with how uneasy it makes Barry to have the newcomers this close to him, he can’t help but notice that the man, who stopped at the seat next to him, does look rather good.

Not that he is checking him out or anything, it’s just a harmless observation… Like how the man has a really handsome face, nearly exotic in a way, with a very short buzz haircut, or how the black shirt he is wearing under his leather jacket sits tight enough that it is obvious that he is in _very_ good shape.

Unconsciously, Barry’s eyes drop down to the dark washed-out jeans that fit the other man also rather snuggly and give a nice view of his firm a-

“Like what you see, kid?” The stranger, who still is standing, is watching him with an amused look, and Barry nearly dies of embarrassment because _what the hell is he doing!?_

Did he just check this man out!? In _public_!? And let himself get caught!?

Barry turns back to his bottle of beer quickly enough that he should have gotten whiplash from it and decides that this night couldn’t get any worse.

At least it doesn’t seem as if the stranger is angry about it, which is good because Barry really doesn’t need to get beaten up for staring at a guy’s ass of all things as well.

“You’ve gotten yourself a new friend, Lenny?” the woman next to the man, apparently _Lenny_ , asks and the amusement is audible in her voice. “Told you these jeans are an _eye-catcher_.”

Barry wonders whether he could make himself so small that he would just _plop_ out of existence…

“Would fit Snart to start something with some _jailbait_.” The man, who has taken a seat on the barstool between the brunette woman and the beefy bald guy, snorts and sound surprisingly scornful.

“Don’t be an ass, Roscoe.” The woman huffs. “We’re here to have a good time and celebrate, not for you thickheads to start bitching at each other again.”

“And I hoped I would get a peaceful night for once.” The barman grunts before either Len or Roscoe can replay, and Barry, who has glanced up again, notices how he glares at the four newcomers like they are a bunch of annoying ants on his picnic blanket.

“Don’t be always such a sourpuss, Charlie.” The young woman grins cheekily. “And don’t try to deny it, we know we’re your favourite customers.”

“Favourite my ass.” The barman, Charlie, snorts and turns to the guy next to Barry. “Your friends or your sister cause any trouble again tonight, Snart, and I’ll ban your asses from my bar for good, got it? I don’t need another incident like last time, the damn pool table is still fucking _new_!”

“Relax,” Len returns the barman’s glare with a pleasant smile. “Me, Mick and the girls won’t cause any trouble-”

“Fuck you!” Roscoe is obviously not happy about being called a girl, and Barry is pretty sure if that man was sitting next to Len, he would have punched him for it. He actually starts to get up, but the brunette woman stops him while giving her brother a dirty look. “Don’t be such an ass! You promised me you’d behave yourself for once!”

“Sorry, Liz,” Len replies with a smirk while he proceeds to meet Roscoe’s glare firmly. The brunette woman heaves a frustrated sigh, clearly fed up with her companions’ behaviour, and turns back to the man, of whom Barry has the feeling that he has to be her boyfriend, to tell him to sit down.

Roscoe keeps glaring daggers at Len for a moment longer before he relents and does just that.

It is then that Barry realizes that he is actually staring at these people and forces his gaze back to the bottle in front of him. He tries to be as inconspicuous as possible, and while the people next to him get their drinks and start to talk about whatever, he starts to lament on what to do now, once again.

Calling Joe is kind of out of question as he wouldn’t only get himself in trouble but Iris as well, and he isn’t exactly a people’s person which means that his lack of any actual real friends – especially any with their own car – is once again coming back to bite him in the ass.

He can probably count himself lucky that he hasn’t caught anybody’s attention yet in here as he isn’t just younger than any of the other people around, but his appearance also makes him clearly stick out from the rest. He has to be screaming _High School kid,_ and anybody looking at him can guess that he is someone who must have ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At least he isn’t wearing his usually clothes – which he does like very much, thank you, just nobody else seems to do so – as Iris helped him to pick something out that would make him at least look passable to the cool kids. Obviously, it didn’t do him much good, though…

Barry fights down the need to sigh and pulls his phone out to check the time once more. He notices with a sinking feeling that it is already close to two in the morning. If Joe made a small break from his nightshift to check on them, they would be so _dead_ …

Why did he let himself be convinced that this would be anything but an atrocious idea?

He is such an _idiot_ …

“You don’t like your drink, kid?”

Barry nearly jumps out of his skin when the guy next to him – Len, his mind provides – suddenly addresses him out of nowhere.

“Wh-what?” he more or less squeaks, and, oh boy, could he please just stop humiliate himself _even more_?!

The other man chuckles as he studies him rather unabashedly – which causes Barry’s cheeks to _burn_ – before he nods to the still hardly touched bottle of beer.

“We’ve been here for nearly twenty minutes now, and you haven’t touched your drink once,” he explains, and Barry can’t help but flush even harder at the notion that this stranger has been watching him without his notice.

Before he has any possibility to answer, though, the barman cuts in with his booming voice.

“The little shit got abandoned by his friends and doesn’t seem to have the cash to pay for his damn drink,” Charlie explains loud enough that probably the whole damn bar has to know about Barry’s embarrassing predicament now. The huge man keeps glaring at him as he goes on. “And just so you know, your _friends_ told me you’d pay for their stuff as well.” He snort and shakes his head with a sigh of resignation as if this was not the first time something like this happened here. “Should have known that this would turn out like this. _Fucking High School kids_.”

The beefy guy goes on grumbling about teenagers these days, and Barry wishes the ground would just open up and swallow him whole.

“What assholes,” the woman next to Len says, and surprises Barry by how honestly annoyed she seems on his behalf. She meets his eyes for a moment, which causes him to blush once more and her to chuckle in turn. “Aw, how could they do that to such a _cute fellow_ like you?” She turns to her brother then with a slight frown. “Can’t you help him out, Lenny?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Lisa,” the man on her other side, Roscoe, says but quickly shuts up when she shoots him an irritated glare.

Yeah, they are pretty certainly a couple.

Len shrugs and asks Charlie how much it would be all in all which causes Barry’s eyes to widen in surprise and disbelief.

Is that guy seriously considering paying for him?

“Forty bucks.” The barman grunts, and Barry feels slightly sick because he wouldn’t have had enough money even if he hadn’t lost is stupid wallet somewhere on the way. He just took around twenty-five dollars with him.

Those _assholes_ …

Len hums and actually proceeds to pull his wallet out. He hands the barman a fifty dollar note before he turns to him and smirks.

“You obviously don’t like your beer,” he remarks, nodding to the bottle in front of Barry. “Why don’t you order something else that’s more your taste?” There is an odd glint in the man’s eyes as he says that, and Barry feels his cheeks grow hot all over again.

“He looks like a sweet tooth,” Lisa interjects before she turns to Charlie. “Can you make him a _Scooby Snack_?”

Barry frowns and briefly wonders whether the young woman is trying to make fun of him or not. He has never heard of a drink called _Scooby Snack_. Does she mean to say that he looks like Shaggy? Well, he is tall and lanky but… the notion is just a bit _depressing_.

Charlie frowns and turns towards Len with an ached eyebrow, probably because the other man would end up paying for his drink anyway.

Len only nods and turns his eyes back to Barry.

“So you’ve got left behind by your _friends_?” He says the word friends like it’s meant as a bad joke, and it is rather fitting everything considered.

Barry, feeling quite insecure about the unexpected attention and still very much embarrassed by what happened to him, only nods quietly.

 “Lisa’s right,” the man says with a snort, and Barry can’t help but notice his eyes, how mesmerizing they are-

He averts his gaze again and tries to fight down another flush. He _definitely_ had too much to drink already.

“They’re jackasses,” Len goes on and smirks. “You’ve to be careful with whom you hang out, kid. There are too many bastards out there.”

“Like us, buddy?” The man who is sitting farthest away from Barry speaks up for the first time, and when he looks over to him, he notices that the guy is watching them with an amused expression.

“Nah,” Len disagrees, but his smirk grows wider and sharper till it shows too much teeth, and reminds Barry a little bit of a shark. “We don’t leave one of ours behind, do we now, Mick?”

“Really, Snart,” Roscoe cuts in and sounds pretty pissed again. “You fucker seemed just fine to leave _me_ behind the other day if I hadn’t caught up with the damn car.”

Len shrugs, and while Barry can’t see the look the man gives his friend, he is pretty sure it isn’t a nice one judging by Roscoe’s scowl. “You’ve to stay on your toes in this business, just wanted to help you to remind that.”

These guys are definitely not subtle about not liking each other, and it is just when the brunette woman calls her brother an asshat that Barry’s drink is put in front of him, causing him to turn his attention away from them.

The drink is an oddly bright green looking cocktail with a portion of whipped cream on top. While he doesn’t know what to think of this strange combination, he can’t help it but feel rather excited by the notion that this is actually his _first_ cocktail _ever_.

Joe would kill him if he should find out about this but… it’s still pretty cool.

“Come on, sweetie,” Lisa urges him on with a smile. “Try it! I love that one!”

Barry hesitates for another moment, but even though he is pretty sure that this isn’t a good idea, he lifts the glass and takes a sip.

It is sweet – _very_ sweet – and the added cream makes it very smooth, ending up in a delicious combination for something that contains alcohol. Still, Charlie certainly added more than just a dash of rum to it as the liquid burns down his throat when he swallows it, which causes him to cough afterwards, much to the amusement of his onlookers.

“You like it?” Len asks and is clearly bemused by his reaction. Barry flushes crimson once again.

“Yes,” he agrees a bit shy but goes on to nip on the drink as if to proof it. “It’s good.”

“Aw, that sweetie has good taste,” Lisa remarks from next to her brother and gives him a wink when he looks over to her. “Though, that shouldn’t really be that surprising after he’s googled your ass, Lenny.”

For a second, Barry fears that his face would go up in flames, especially when Len seems to agree with his sister as he gives him a rather smug and pleased look in turn.

“God, don’t encourage him about the _jailbait_ ,” Roscoe throws in which causes both of the sibling to give the man rather irritated glares.

“Because you jackass had any concern regarding the age difference between you and Liz when you started _wooing_ her?” Len asks sharply, and causes Barry to tense up in response as he is worried that this palpable hostility between both men could lead to an actual bar fight.

“Oh, shush, _both_ of you.” Lisa snaps. “I really don’t need to witness another _pissing contest_ between you two thickheads.”

Thankfully, and much to Barry’s surprise, the tense aggression seems to dissipate rather quickly again then. Both Len and Roscoe seem to listen to the brunette woman and proceed to make do with simply ignoring each other.

“Don’t looks so worried.” Len smirks when he turns back to him and notices how tensed up he has gotten. “We’re like dogs, all bark but no bite.”

This causes Mick to snort, but he doesn’t elaborate why he finds this funny as Len shoots him a warning glare.

Barry isn’t really sure what to make of that.

Or of the fact that he is actually sitting at a bar with someone who is obvious a criminal, or that he let that guy buy him drinks, even though he is obviously still underage.

An underage kid who is living with a cop as guardian, and said guardian would certainly go up the wall if he ever learned of this…

The clever and sensible thing to do would be to call Joe and stand to what they did, he really should do that…

But the other man’s eyes are on him now, and he is giving him this pleased and amused smirk again that just looks so damn _good_ on him.

“You’d a lot to drink already?” Len asks out of the blue, and Barry frowns slightly, not sure what he means by this question, but shakes his head.

“No, just about two beers,” he explains and gives him a curious look. “Why?”

“You seem quite alert for a teenager who is at a bar like this this late into the night. Usually this combination should have led to you being drunk out of your mind by now.” The other man explains with a chuckle, and Barry feels himself blush once again, not sure whether to take this as an insult or not.

“I don’t really drink that much,” he says somewhat defensively because, so what, he didn’t like to gorge himself on beer, that doesn’t make him a loser.

Well, maybe in the eyes of most people in his schools but…

He frowns and nips on his cocktail again, enjoying the sweet taste and still burning sensation that slowly loses some of its edge.

“Because you’re a good little son?” Len shoots him an amused look before he takes a pull on his drink.

Barry’s frown deepens, and he nearly snaps at the man that he knows nothing about him but bites down on the urge. It certainly wouldn’t do him any good to insult a man like this who, in addition, also paid for his drinks and the ones of his so called _friends_.

Len seems to notice the slight shift in his demeanour as he aches an eyebrow in question but, much to Barry’s surprise and gratitude, let go of the topic.

“Why where you with those guys, anyway?” he inquires instead, and Barry notices that he has now shifted on his seat so that he is facing him completely, indicating that he actually is interested to have a conversation with him, which is just… strange.

Why would this man want to talk to a scrawny teenager like him? Barry is well aware that he isn’t exactly a looker, he is too gangly, clumsy, and awkward most of the time, not something anybody would find charming… and obviously also rather lacking when it comes to _self-confidence_.

He hesitates for a moment, not sure whether he should really tell this man, of whom he knows next to nothing, anything regarding himself.

Maybe it is the rum in his cocktail, though, because he starts to speak despite this persisting wariness.

“There was some stupid party Iris got invited to,” he explains and adds, because the man couldn’t know whom he is talking about,” Iris is my best friend, you see, and very popular because she’s just… great.” His cheeks heat up again, and he doesn’t miss the amused glint in the other man’s eyes. He coughs lightly and takes another sip of his cocktail before he goes on. “Well, she got invited to this part, and she took me along because she wanted me to get out, and I didn’t want her to go there alone…”

Over the next ten minutes or so, he more or less tells Len everything what happened from the moment they arrived at this unofficial graduation party to how he ended up here. He is pretty sure that it has to become glaringly obvious how much of a loser he really is by now, but it isn’t as if it had been really that hard to see even before this anyway.

When he finishes, he turns his gaze down to his cocktail, embarrassed and a bit sad about the miserable night. He is surprised to notice that there is hardly anything left from his drink other than some excess light cream. He hasn’t even realized that he drunk so much of it already.

“You shouldn’t have tagged along,” Len says and causes him to look back over to the other man who is studying him with a contemplative look now. “It should have been obvious from the get go that this wouldn’t turn out well for you, kid, and it probably was, wasn’t it?”

Barry frowns but shrugs. “I had to watch out for Iris.”

“So that she wouldn’t get in trouble? Pity that the whole thing will still likely blow up in both of your faces.” Len takes another pull of his beer, empties it, and asks Charlie for another one before he turns to Barry. “You want another one of these or something else?”

Surprised, Barry fails to answer quickly enough it seems as Len simply turns to the barman and tells him to make another _Scooby Snack_.

“I don’t think I should drink another one,” he says but isn’t sure whether it is a good idea to decline the man’s offer even though he doesn’t believe anymore that Len is really a danger to him.

“You’ve graduate High School,” Len points out with a smirk. “It’s kind of required for you to get at least once drunk in celebration of it.”

The notion of doing so isn’t exactly sitting well with Barry, but he doesn’t protest any further, mostly because he notices again the other man’s eyes, and that he is watching him rather attentively again. It causes a familiar heat to rise in his loins, and Barry quickly looks away, face flushed in embarrassment and horror, because he would certainly not survive it should he get hard right now of all times, in presence of this man, who may or may not be sort of interested in him, even though he is at least ten years older than him.

Ten years older and _smoking hot_.

…which is just a totally objective observation on his part.

“What’s your plan now you’re out of school?”

Barry glances back over to Len, and even though he really doesn’t get why he would care about something like that, he can’t deny that it is a bit pleasant to have his attention.

“I’ll go to college,” he explains somewhat hesitantly and frowns. “Not really sure yet what I want to study, though.”

“I’m not surprised, you looks like a smart kid,” Len remarks and Barry blushes once again, not sure how to deal with such an unexpected statement that is clearly meant as a compliment. Being smart usually wasn’t something that impressed his former peers at school and was generally a reason for him to get bullied even more…

“You mean I look like a nerd,” he asks and hopes that it comes over as funny and not as petulant which seems to be the case as his current drinking buddy – and, holy moly, he actually has a drinking buddy, Iris is never going to believe him this – to chuckle and grin.

“Not what I’ve said,” Len points out but doesn’t correct him either which in turn causes Barry to smile a bit as well.

They get their drinks, and after his first couple of sips Barry notices that he starts to feel a bit lightheaded which is probably a good indication that it is time for him to quit for tonight.

Unfortunately, Len keeps looking at him in this way that makes his inside tingle and something in his stomach flutter pleasantly, and the notion of alcohol isn’t really as unappealing as it has been just about half an hour ago.

“Your friend, she’s also going to college with you?” Len asks, and Barry wonders whether he is imagining it or whether the other man has really moved somewhat closer without him noticing it.

“Uh, yeah,” he agrees and can’t help but notice how full the other man’s lips look. He also doesn’t miss the amused smirk or how Len meets his gaze with a knowing glint in his eyes, so that he quickly averts his eyes, cheeks flushed again, and forces himself to go on. “Yeah, but she isn’t sure what subject to choose yet either as she actually wanted...”

He breaks off seeing that he may be drunk, but not drunk enough that he would mention that Iris initially wanted to join the police force in a place and in company like this.

Yeah, that probably wouldn’t go over so well.

… or the fact that his kind of surrogate father is an actual _cop_.

“She wanted to do something else,” he goes on rather lamely. “But her dad didn’t like the idea, and she will probably also go to college because of that.”

Len gives him a look he isn’t sure how to feel about. Even though he hasn’t said all that much, he still thinks that the other man has an inkling of what he talking about. Against his worry, this doesn’t cause him to turn hostile, though.

Barry is certain that he is likely not the most interesting conversation partner Len has at hand here, but, even so, they still keep a conversation up for nearly another hour as it is ridiculously easy to talk to the older man, and for a while he completely forgets about the uncomfortable situation he is currently in.

It is after he has accepted another drink, feeling pleasantly buzzed by then, that he realizes that the bar has turned rather quiet around them.

To his surprise he realizes, as he takes a look around, that most patrons seem to have left by now, and when he hastily pulls his phone out to look up the time, he is startled by seeing that it’s already after half past three.

Joe would come home in less than two hours, and he is still god knows where while Iris is at another guy’s home, probably still sleeping off her buzz.

_Damn!_

“Everything alright?” Len, who hasn’t missed his reaction, studies him with a slight frown.

“Y-yeah,” Barry agrees nervously and stumbles rather ungracefully onto his feet. At least he tries to as his knees promptly give out under him.

A painful fall to the ground is prevented by Len, though, who grabs his upper arms firmly.

“Hold your horses, kid,” the man says, and his mouth is so close to Barry’s cheek that he can feel his breath which is odd and nice, and he suddenly feels the urge to turn his head just slightly, to brush his lips…

Damn, he is _definitely_ smashed.

“You little shit are better not having alcohol poisoning,” Charlie, who hasn’t missed his little stunt, gives him a warning glare after Len helped him to sit down on the barstool again.

“What a caring soul you are, Charlie.” Lisa chuckles and turns to shoot Barry a bemused look. “And you’re really a lightweight, aren’t you, sweetie?”

Barry, who is feeling drunk, too hot and embarrassed, mutters a protest before he remembers why he wanted to get up in the first place. This time, Len stops him before he could try to get another rendezvous with the floor by grabbing his arm firmly again.

“Slow down,” the man tells him with an expression that is somewhere between exasperated and amused. “What has you so up and going all of a sudden, kid?”

“I need to get Iris and get home,” he explains while he slowly but surely grows frantic. “Joe will kill me if he comes home and we aren’t there.”

“Her dad?” Len asks, and he nod miserably.

“Well, you dug yourself quite a nice grave there,” Roscoe tells him, and Barry really doesn’t appreciates how very amused he seems by his misery. “The girl’s old man is certainly going to flip it if he finds out that you dragged her to a party and lost her there.”

“But I didn’t,” he protest agitatedly and shoots Len a pleading look as if to confirm it. This causes the man to chuckle shake his head in bemusement.

“Sorry, kiddo, but I doubt that will matter to her old man,” he says, and, sadly, he is just too right because Barry knows that Joe would be disappointed in both of them, no matter who started it or why either one went against his rules.

“Damn,” he curses under his breath and slumps onto the bar, groaning miserably. “I’m so dead…”

Joe would be livid, he would probably put both of them under house arrest for the rest of the summer till he had to let them go because the new semester starts.

Damn… damn, damn, _damn_!

He is such a dumb idiot! Why didn’t he convince Iris to stay home!? Why could he never get her to listen to him!?

“Don’t be so down, sweetie,” Lisa tells him, and even though her amusement is audible, there is also an honestly comforting quality to her voice. “We’ll get you and your little girl-friend home before her dad can find anything out about this, okay?”

Barry doesn’t seem the only one surprised by this offer.

“What?” Roscoe gives Lisa a look like she has just lost it. “We are not going to use _my car_ to chauffeur that little idiot or any of his friends home!”

“Pish-posh, don’t be an ass, Roscoe, of course we’re going to help them.” The brunette woman waves her boy-friend off and ignores his protests as she gets up and stretches herself like a cat before she turns to Barry with a wide slightly unsettling grin. “It will be fun.”

Somehow he doubts that…

Before he or anybody else has an opportunity to protest, Lisa already makes her way out of the bar, calling back over her shoulder to Charlie to put her drinks on her tab.

“Of fucking course.” The barman grumbles in audible annoyance but doesn’t stop her as he seems to be used to this.

Len gets up as well, pulls his wallet out again and pays for his and Barry’s last drink.

“It seems we’re going to save you from the wrath of your friend’s father,” he says to Barry with an amused glint in his eyes and turns to Mick while ignoring Roscoe. “You’re coming along?”

“To a fucking house party full of brats?” the tall man snorts and shakes his head. “Nah, I sit this one out, Lenny.”

“Suit yourself.” Len shrugs and looks back to Barry with a smirk. “You wanna ride with me or Lis?”

Barry, feeling a lot like he has lost the last bit of control over this situation, isn’t sure how to answer as he hasn’t agreed to any of this in the first place. Not that this seems to matter a lot to anybody here…

Then, he notices Roscoe’s warning glare that is directed his way, and before he can even think about it, he squeaks rather unmanly. “You!”

Len chuckles again and nods. “Fine, then let’s get going. You’ve an address where we can pick your friend up from?”

Barry does as he has tutored Mike in chemistry a couple of times so far – because Iris asked him to, and he can never say no to her, even when it comes to help one of his damn bullies – but he isn’t sure whether he should hand the other teen’s address out to Len.

“Is your friend rich?” The question catches him off-guard, and he gives the other man a confused and slightly suspicious look but shakes his head.

“No, why?”

“Because neither of us can care less about him in this case,” Len explains with another one of his amused smirks and nods over to the exit of the bar. “Lisa’s going to get inpatient if we’re not joining her soon, so just give me the address. I promise you that your friends and their possessions are safe, okay?”

Feeling both embarrassed for being so obvious and relieved about this promise even though he knows that it probably doesn’t count as much if these people are really criminals – which Len has more or less just confirmed – he gives him a faint grateful smile and recites the address to him.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Roscoe grumbles angrily after Len passed the address to him on their way out of the bar and into the rather cool night. He gives Barry a menacing glare. “I swear, if your damn friend throws up in my car, I’m so going to kick your ass, kid.”

“Lisa likes him,” Len reminds the other man in a rather pleased voice. “Which means that she’ll kick _your_ ass if you do anything like that.”

“Damn that woman and her tendency to feel bad for _pitiful cases_.” Roscoe huffs, and while Barry really doesn’t particularly like to be described as _pitiful_ , he keeps quiet and is just glad when Len stops while the other man walks on.

His relief to be no longer close to that guy and his bad mood quickly wanes again when he notices that Len didn’t actually stop in front of a car but a bike.

“I’m drunk,” Barry point out alarmed as he realizes that this would be his ride with the other man, and he is way too little of a rebel to not consider the danger this could pose seeing that he is both drunk and a complete noob when it comes to riding one of these machines.

Though, a small part of him can’t deny how cool this would be and that he would likely not get a possibility like that again any time soon.

“You are,” Len agrees as he picks up two helmets from the bike’s stowage space as well as another dark jacket. He doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about the fact that he would have a drunk teen as passenger, though. “Put this one,” he tells Barry and hands him the jacket at first before he goes on. “You aren’t drunk enough to be no longer able to hold onto another person, though, and you don’t have to do much more than that.”

That is not a mental image he needs, especially with how it causes a nearly uncomfortable heat to settle into his lower abdomen, and he prays to anybody who is listening that he would not get hard right now, not when he would end up sitting behind the other man in just a couple of minutes, and that with probably next to no space between them.

At least this area near the bar isn’t well lit as the streetlight closest to them seems to be broken, and Len probably can’t see how deep his flush is right now.

“Right,” he utters, not looking at the other man as he tries to close the zipper of the borrowed jacket that is easily two numbers too big for him. With how fluttered his nerves are and thanks to the alcohol in his blood, his fingers turn out to have a hard time finishing even just this simple task. He starts to mutter soft curses under his breath when his third attempts fails, annoyed at himself and how damn clumsy he always is, especially now in front of the other man.

The sound of Len stepping closer causes him to tense up and pause.

“Here, hold this,” the other man says, and hands him the helmet before he reaches for the jacket’s zipper, lightly pushing Barry’s hands away as he does so. As he closes it, he shoots him another amused look. “You’re not good at keeping a cool head, are you?”

Not sure what to answer, Barry stays quiet, which causes his current companion to chuckle as he nods to the helmet in his hand and tells him to put it on.

Like the jacket before, the helmet turns out to be kind an obstacle for him, and, once again, Len comes to his aid and closes its buckle for him which causes him to breath in sharply when the other man’s finger brush against the sensitive skin blow his chin and his throat.

He swallows nervously and wonders whether this could also been such an electrifying sensation for Len.

Probably not, though, as the other man only gives him a brief once over and steps back to his bike. Barry watches him then pick up something he quickly recognizes as a GPS device. Len then proceeds looking up the address and the way to get there which takes nearly no time at all.

“Won’t take long to get there,” the other man tells him and gets onto the bike. He signs him to do the same. “Saddle up, kid.”

Barry hesitates for a moment before he follows along. The notion of driving through the night on a bike doesn’t seem all that appealing anymore all of sudden as doubts start to crawl their way into his mind and with how lightheaded he starts to feel.

“Put your hands around me and hold on tight, okay?” Len asks, and with both their helmet visors still open his voice only sounds slightly muffled.

“Okay,” Barry more croaks than says and swiftly closes his visor because he hopes he could stop embarrassing himself any more this way.

The other man’s back is broad and firm, and he feels a bit shy about leaning against and putting his arms around him. Being this close to someone who is still nearly a complete stranger to him is just odd, and it doesn’t help that he knows that Len looks like one of those male models he has seen in the fashion catalogs Iris likes to buy.

Not that he finds them particularly interesting or anything… not at all…

He notices a car pull out onto the street not too far ahead of them and instinctively firms his grip around the other man’s middle when the bike beneath him suddenly comes to life.

Without another warning they drive off then, faster than Barry has expected, but not fast enough for him to possibly fall off. Even so, he still firms his hold on Len some more and pushes himself against him, eyes squeezed shut as the sudden motion causes him to feel a bit dizzy.

There is no way to say how much time passes by, especially with how tensed up and nervous he is feeling, but after what feels like an hour and probably wasn’t more than five minutes or so, Barry dares to crack an eye open and watches how mostly dark buildings, streetlamps, and a few other cars pass by them in high speed as they make their way through the still mostly sleeping city.

They are driving fast, definitely, but it isn’t as bad as he has feared it would be, and slowly he starts to relax again. This is probably a good thing because he realizes by how his finger are slightly tingling and hurting that his grip he has on the other man must have been rather uncomfortable for him. He feels immediately bad for this and forces himself to lighten his hold somewhat.

Now that he doesn’t expect his early demise by dropping off the bike anymore, he starts to realizes what an exhilarating feeling it is to go this fast. It causes an exciting nervousness to settle into his stomach that isn’t unpleasant but rather thrilling, and Len seems to notice his change in mood as they suddenly pick up speed. They pass a couple of cars in front of them which are nearly nothing but a blur next to them, and Barry doesn’t even want to guess how far past the speed limit they are right now.

Despite knowing that this is wrong and seriously dangerous, he can’t help himself but enjoy this thrill ride, and he presses himself a bit firmer against Len once more, not out of fear but because all the adrenalin that currently rushes through his body makes him daring.

All of what has happened in the last couple of hours is unexpected, strange, and dangerous, but Barry wishes for a moment that he could stay like this, going this fast and with the other man so close…

It is much too soon that they slow down again and start to manoeuvre through a number of side streets before they come to a hold in front of a smaller but neat looking apartment complex Barry still recognizes all too easily from the couple of times he had the displeasure to come here.

He gets off before Len, making an idiot out of himself by somehow getting stuck with his leg and falling hard onto his side.

Good thing he has the helmet on, really, because even if his embarrassment wasn’t able to kill him, a broken head certainly would.

“You’re alright?” Len asks after he has helped him onto his feet again, and Barry wishes he could keep the helmet on or putt a paper bag over his head instead because he so has it with making a fool out of himself all the time.

“Yes, sorry about that,” he tells the other man unhappily who has his visor open and give him another by now very familiar amused look.

“Don’t worry kid, you’re holding yourself pretty well for the amount you’ve drunk, considering you’re not used to it,” Len tells him before he suddenly steps closer, causing Barry to freeze, and proceeds to open the strap of his helmet for him so that he could take it off again. Feeling his gloved fingers on his skin causes him to shudder before he can stop himself, and he quickly make a nervous step back afterwards, looking anywhere but at his companion.

Len is nice enough not to mention his odd behaviour and instead proceeds to take his helmet off as he asks him to do the same.

The sound of a car driving around the corner not too far down the street from where they’ve come, causes them to look in its direction, and they spot Roscoe’s car.

They park in front of Len’s bike, and the first thing Roscoe does after he has exited the car and closed his door with way more force than necessary is giving Barry another dark glare before he turns to the apartment building in front of them and frowns.

“I’m not getting up there to fetch a drunk teenager,” he states firmly which causes Lisa, who has also just gotten out of the car, roll her eyes and wink at Barry when she notices his concerned expression.

“Then you are on watch duty,” she tells Roscoe and turns back to Len and him. “Let’s go fetch the damsel in distress, shall we?”

Getting Iris turns out to be surprisingly easy, the hardest part is to get someone to open the entrance for them as Barry makes the mistake to be the one to buzz the apartment which leads to the audibly drunk teenagers up their promptly deny him to enter when they realize who he is, much to his embarrassment.

Thankfully, Lisa seems know exactly what to say to the teen at the other end of the line with as she explains with a low and rather seductive voice that she met Barry at the bar, and that he promised her a good time at this place as well as some free booze.

Considering the horniness of teenage boys, especially drunk ones, it really shouldn’t be surprising that the door is opened even before she can finish talking.

To Barry’s relief, it is Tina who opens the door for them when they arrive at the apartment after a lift drive to the sixth floor, and she seems tired but mostly sober. She is a bit suspicious of Len and Lisa, but after he has assured her that they are friend of him who’ve offered to get him and Iris home, she is willing to take his word for it and gets them to the guest room where Iris is currently still deep asleep.

“You’ve odd friends,” she tells Barry as she follows them back through the living room where just a handful of guys are left, and most of them already snoring. “But, then again, you’re quite an odd guy yourself.” She gives him a smile at that which makes it obvious that she doesn’t meant any harm by it, which he returns a bit surprised.

“Get her home safely and good luck with Joe.” Tina tells him seriously before she gives him another brief smile and closes the door after them.

Barry follows Lisa and Len, who is carrying Iris bridal style, back to the elevator and nervously checks his phone again.

It’s already Five…

“I miss these kind of parties,” Lisa says as soon as the doors of the elevator have closed behind them. “All the boys and the booze.” It is then that Barry notices the two beers she is holding in her left hand while she is sipping on another one in her right. At his surprised expression, she gives him a pleased smile and advises sagely. “Never waste the opportunity to grab a free beer if it presents itself to you, that would be a shameful waste.”

Barry chuckles despite himself, feeling much more relaxed than just five minutes ago, and turns his attention to Iris, who has only briefly muttered something incoherent when Len picked her up before but hasn’t woken up at all so far.

“She’s pretty out,” Lisa remarks as she has followed his look. “Poor baby girl will probably think her head is going to split open in just a few hours.”

Barry hums and feels rather bad for his best friend as this would certainly be a rather awful awakening for her.

They get back to the car, and Len seems to expect that he wants to drive with Iris as he simply gets onto his bike after putting his helmet back on without offering him a ride this time. This causes an unexpected worry to rise in Barry as he doesn’t want the other man to simply drive off even though there is really no reason for him to follow along any longer as both Lisa and Roscoe are probably quite apt to get Iris and him home.

“You think you can guide them to your home from here?” Len asks him, and Barry can’t help but feel disappointed at the notion that this would be their goodbye already. The other man seems to notice his unhappy mood as he gives him a knowing smirk and adds. “I’ll follow behind.”

“Oh…” Barry feels the familiar sensation of his cheek heat up and nods a bit embarrassed. “Sure.”

Len, who can easily see his reaction this time, seems bemused but there is something else in his eyes as well, something less innocent, something hot and hungry, and Barry can’t help but shudder-

“Will you get into the damn car already, brat!?” He jumps slightly at Roscoe’s annoyed and impatient voice. “We’ve better things to do than chauffeur you and your drunken little friend’s asses around!”

“Sorry!” he stammers and quickly gets into the back of the car, next to Iris who has already been buckled in and is still unconscious. When he throws a look back to Len, he sees that the man has closes the visor of his helmet and seems ready to go.

The drive to his home goes by quiet and uneventful. Nobody of them is talking much other than for Barry telling them the directions of how to get to their destination.

It doesn’t even take fifteen minutes till they arrive in front of their house with how empty the streets are, and it is an immense relief when he notices that their home is still dark, and that Joe’s care isn’t anywhere to be seen.

Maybe, just maybe, they’ve actually been able to dodge the worst of it. There is no way that Joe wouldn’t notice that they have been drinking, but Barry could try and come up with some story about him having sneaked some booze into the house to celebrate. This would still earn them quite some trouble but nowhere near as much as it would if Joe find out that they have actually gone out without his notice and gotten stupidly drunk on top of it.

Len carries Iris into the house for him, while Roscoe keep sitting in the driver’s seat, and Lisa gets out to the trunk, seemingly searching for something.

The house is dark and quiet, and he leads the other man upstairs to Iris room, just briefly worrying whether it is a good idea to let him in here like this. He is tired, though, and he can feel a headache start to build up behind his temples. Also, Len has been nothing but kind to him so far, he probably owns him some of his trust just for this.

“Here we go,” Len says as he puts Iris onto her bed, and Barry doesn’t miss how careful he is doing so, which causes something in his chest to tighten a bit.

Seeing that he can’t let her sleep like this, he hurries to taking her shoes off and to put a blanket over her, before he and Len make their way back downstairs.

As he follows the older man, Barry can’t help but think that this is going to be their goodbye now.

It is stupid, really, he doesn’t know this guy at all, he just met him a couple of hours ago in a bar… he shouldn’t dread him leaving this much…

To Barry’s surprise, he spots Lisa standing in the living room, close to the still open entrance, looking around curiously. When she notices them, she gives him a pleased grin and walks over to meet them.

“I’ve something for you,” she tells him, sounding nearly excited as she lifts her hand to present him with a big empty bottle of vodka. “Your alibi!”

Not waiting for his response, Lisa pushes it against his chest so that he automatically takes hold of it before she suddenly pinches his cheek lightly. “It was nice meeting you, sweetie,” she tells him with a chuckle and grins. “If you were a couple of years older, I would make sure than Len ends up bringing you home with him.”

The expression he makes at that has to be rather hilarious as Lisa laughs outright.

“Take care.” She gives him a wink before she turns and leaves him and Len alone again.

“Thanks,” he utters to no one in particular as Lisa is already gone, and he can’t bring himself to face Len.

“You’re welcome,” the other man still answers, and Barry feels his heartrate pick up when he hears him step closer. His eyes are on the ground now, and he feels like an idiot all over again because he really doesn’t want Len, a man who is likely more than ten years older than him and he knows nearly nothing about, to just leave like that. He knows that it is ridiculous and wishful thinking of his part to imagine that this guy could really like him that way, and he isn’t even sure what to make of it at all, seeing that he isn’t… well, he doesn’t think that he is…

Barry presses his lips together, frowning down at his feet while feeling the cool morning air from the outside fill the room around him.

“It’s been a pleasure to meet you, Barry.”

Surprised, he glances up, noticing how close Len is standing now, and his cheeks heat up in response while something in his stomach starts to flutter.

Len studies him with a familiar bemused expression in his eyes but there is also again this fondness Barry has noticed before.

For a long moment they just stand there like this, close enough that he can actually feel the other man’s presence, and watch each other.

Briefly, Barry has the notion that Len doesn’t really want to leave either but… that is just his imagination, right?

“Y-yes,” he starts, stuttering embarrassingly before he coughs lightly and tries again. “Yeah, it was… it was really nice to meet you, Len.”

Len smirks, and Barry tenses up when he reaches for him and feels both nervous and thrilled when his hand cups his neck in a very intimate gesture.

“You’re a great kid,” the other man goes on and squeezes his neck lightly. “Maybe, when you’re a couple of years older, we meet again, and I can buy you another drink.”

“I-I would like that,” he answers honestly and can’t help but notice how close they are or how full and soft Len’s lips look. If he was a couple of years older… but he isn’t, and he has picked up by now that Len isn’t like that, maybe a criminal but not someone who would start something with someone underage.

Barry doesn’t know why he feels so disappointed about it, it makes him angry in a way because this is a good thing, it would be wrong on both of their parts to go anywhere else with… with this, whatever _this_ may be…

“Take care, kiddo.” Len squeezes his neck again and meets his eyes with an expression that causes a nearly painful longing to rise in Barry’s chest before he lets go of him and steps back. “Maybe in a couple more years,” he says once more, and it sounds a bit like a promise and a bit hopeful.

Then he is gone, closing the door behind him, and Barry is left standing there, feeling a bit confused and sad, but also quite excited, because this night definitely hasn’t turned out to be as miserable as it initially seemed it would.

With a warm feeling in his chest, he decides to go upstairs and take a shower before he would go to bed and try to grasp at least some sleep before he and Iris would have to face Joe.

As he climbs the stairs, he shoots a brief look back over his shoulder to the entrance door and can’t help but smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! Feel free to let me know what you think of it! :)


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